I used to love Pistol Pete's when I was a kid. There was one down the street from my house in Dallas and my parents would take me there on special occasions. The pizza they had was ten times better than Chuck E Cheese and Showbiz. If anyone has a recipe I'd love to try and make it.

I just found this site... but my father was the owner of Pistol Pete's Pizza. He sold it in Aug 1995 to Peter Pipper Pizza.

I remember going to TONS of the stores on his business trips and playing endlessgames!

Anywho.... the only trick to his crust was the oven and the cornmeal. After the pizza was rolled out and prepped you dust the bottom of the pie with cornmeal. This gives it that crazy "dusty" texture but also makes the bottom of the crust very crispy and yet the toppings are still gooey.

The oven he used was a large 20 pie rotational. You put the pizza in the top.... it spirals down slowely giving an even cook on ALL pies.

Good luck finding anyone who makes it, or can even try to make it. Rarely does anyone use these ovens anymore because they are HUGE!!! And I've NEVER since 1995 found a pizza that uses cornmeal anymore.

My dad will "attempt" to make it every once and a while but it never comes out right because of the oven.

I'm 27 now and he's actually here for the holidays. He'll get a kick out of hearing about this forum.

PPSon,I know of Peter Piper, but Pistol Petes? and just an FYI I recently found 1 of those ovens here in Wycoff NJ and yes its Huge! I have never seen this ferris wheel monster anywhere except in the 80's ata local Papa Ginos in NH. I dont even think that one was this big. I will try to get a pic. for all to see. This place does a very (almost too) thin 22"-24" (like son said plenty o room here) They advertise largest slice in town! NY style and many california choices as well. I'll post in in pizza places reviews as to not hijack this thread. John

That's so fricking cool that PPson' is on this board. Tell your dad, he had the best entertainment restaurant I've ever been to. I'm a father now, and my three year old loves Chuck E Cheese; CEC has nothing on Pistol Pete's. I'm so bummed that there's nothing like this in Dallas.

Hi everyone, it's great to see so many people who enjoyed my dad's pizza place. As my brother mentioned above it's a difficult recipe to duplicate as the trick is in the oven. I remember as a little girl "bussing" tables in Garland & Dallas locations just so I could earn tokens to play games. We usually got to travel in the summer with him to visit the other locations around the South & Southwest.

Our parents are doing very well in retirment and we often remember the good times of ole Pistol Pete's Pizza. Thanks for sharing.

I got really excited when I saw this thread! I grew up with Pistol Pete's in NM and loved it as a kid. When they came out with their deep dish, it was heaven. I still have fond memories as a kid of PPP.

Haven't eaten their in years. Their pizza was good and cheap. Just their plain cheese was the best. I recall a thin, chewy crust (but not cardboard or cracker), with lots of corneal on the bottom. Well it was more moist than a typical cracker crust.

Our local PPP become a Peter Piper's Pizza later but I don't know if it was just a name change or a completely different pie. I dont' even know if the local Peter Piper's has gone out of business. Hmm, time to give them a visit. I think I would still enjoy it now though.

PPS and PPD, is it possible that you would share the recipe and allow the forum members to attempt to duplicate the famous PPP? I'd love to give it a shot. I think the oven issue could be worked around.

I remember Pistol Petes Pizza. There was one here in Laredo, Texas. The pizza was good, but what i realy loved were all the arcade games it had. After it was replaced with Peter Piper Pizza they slowly got rid of most of the arcades games and replaced them with games that give you tickets to trade for prizes. It also had some animated puppets that were a band and were on a stage. they would play songs. I still got a few tokens that i didnt used with the Pistol Petes Pizza Logo. They other day i went to Peter Piper Pizza where the original Pistol Petes was and it brought back memories of end of the year school field trips.

I used to work at Pistol Petes Pizza from 1988 to 1990 in Albuquerque NM. I was trained on pretty much everything. I started on the drinks station and moved to the dining room (aka the clean up crew). Then advanced to making the pizza's, working the carousel oven, and eventually into the dough room to make the pizza dough and roll out and cut the pies. I even worked the game room, and parties, and was the first employee chosen to wear the Billy Bob Bear mascot outfit when PPP bought the animatronic show from Showbiz. I even met Grizzly Adams at a "Make a Wish" fundraiser while dressed as Billy Bob.

Our General Manager, Judy, was the inventor of the Pistol Petes deep dish pizza, and I'm proud to say I had a slight roll in helping her as it developed. It was an awesome place to work in High School, as everyone would meet there before I got off of work to go out for the evening. And I guess I was very fortunate to work with a bunch of really good people.

We used to make fun of the pizza, because it was so darn cheap...back then it was $3.95 for a large one topping pizza. We never claimed it was the best...just the cheapest. But, I actually miss the pizza. After I graduated I went into the Navy and was stationed in Naples Italy. The funny thing is PPP was closer to being authentic than say Pizza Hut or Domino's.

I now reside in San Diego and just went to Peter Piper Pizza last week for a birthday party. Sadly it pales in comparison to my memory of Pistol Petes.

I just found this site... but my father was the owner of Pistol Pete's Pizza. He sold it in Aug 1995 to Peter Pipper Pizza.

I remember going to TONS of the stores on his business trips and playing endlessgames!

Anywho.... the only trick to his crust was the oven and the cornmeal. After the pizza was rolled out and prepped you dust the bottom of the pie with cornmeal. This gives it that crazy "dusty" texture but also makes the bottom of the crust very crispy and yet the toppings are still gooey.

The oven he used was a large 20 pie rotational. You put the pizza in the top.... it spirals down slowely giving an even cook on ALL pies.

Good luck finding anyone who makes it, or can even try to make it. Rarely does anyone use these ovens anymore because they are HUGE!!! And I've NEVER since 1995 found a pizza that uses cornmeal anymore.

My dad will "attempt" to make it every once and a while but it never comes out right because of the oven.

I'm 27 now and he's actually here for the holidays. He'll get a kick out of hearing about this forum.

So was your dad Bruce or Steve? I started out as a 'doughboy', ending up a store manager. Too bad, but I couldn't get the financing to get a franchise deal. I've been thinking about starting an all-u-can eat pizza place again. It would have to be in the right location, for sure.

I used to work at Pistol Petes Pizza from 1988 to 1990 in Albuquerque NM. I was trained on pretty much everything. I started on the drinks station and moved to the dining room (aka the clean up crew). Then advanced to making the pizza's, working the carousel oven, and eventually into the dough room to make the pizza dough and roll out and cut the pies. I even worked the game room, and parties, and was the first employee chosen to wear the Billy Bob Bear mascot outfit when PPP bought the animatronic show from Showbiz. I even met Grizzly Adams at a "Make a Wish" fundraiser while dressed as Billy Bob.

Our General Manager, Judy, was the inventor of the Pistol Petes deep dish pizza, and I'm proud to say I had a slight roll in helping her as it developed. It was an awesome place to work in High School, as everyone would meet there before I got off of work to go out for the evening. And I guess I was very fortunate to work with a bunch of really good people.

We used to make fun of the pizza, because it was so darn cheap...back then it was $3.95 for a large one topping pizza. We never claimed it was the best...just the cheapest. But, I actually miss the pizza. After I graduated I went into the Navy and was stationed in Naples Italy. The funny thing is PPP was closer to being authentic than say Pizza Hut or Domino's.

I now reside in San Diego and just went to Peter Piper Pizza last week for a birthday party. Sadly it pales in comparison to my memory of Pistol Petes.

I worked for Judy, Larry, Terri, etc, as well. I remember one guy actually got caught stealing a beer keg at the San Mateo store when he rolled it out the back door in a garbage can. Lots of memories from those days; much more fun than the desk job I have now.

My name is Ken Turner and I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I joined the forum because a found a thread that talked about the company that I used to work for, Pistol Pete's Pizza. It was a chain based in Phoenix, Arizona and had around 35 units at it's apex! I had joined the company in June, 1984, starting out as an assistant manager. Less than a year later, I am the G.M. at the unit I am working at. I was the G.M. for almost 3 years, until I was promoted to Quality Assurance as a Field Services Representative, in the Operations Department. My former boss at McDonald's, who was now a co-owner, was responsible for this department. It made sure that the franchisee restaurant operators were following established policies, procedures, and guidelines. I traveled about 40 weekends a year, from Thursday thru Monday, visiting restaurants in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. I was the primary quality assurance field rep. It was my job to come into the units to inspect them and to assist the owner/operators in whatever way that I could! The chain was sold to a competitor, Peter Piper Pizza, on August 7, 1995. That was the best job I ever had. I miss that company!!

I contacted the son of the founder of Pistol Pete's, who posted on this thread, and told him to say hi to his mom and dad. I know his sister, who posted on this thread, also! His dad was a manager for a couple McDonald franchisees (they later became his partners at Pistol Pete's) when he first hired me to work for him! That was the beginning of a 20 year relationship. Fun times, oh what fun times!!

I would like to hear from anyone that was associated with Pistol Pete's Pizza so that we can talk about the good old days!! I read the posts and I know that I know some of you, especially those in Albuquerque! I would visit that city at least once every 6 weeks, or so! I have included a photo of me from early 1994, so that it can jog your memory! Thank you for the chance to post some relevant stuff to the thread!

I worked for Judy, Larry, Terri, etc, as well. I remember one guy actually got caught stealing a beer keg at the San Mateo store when he rolled it out the back door in a garbage can. Lots of memories from those days; much more fun than the desk job I have now.

Spyder95, When did you work there? I was there from 88-90 before I went into the Navy.

My name is Ken Turner and I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I joined the forum because a found a thread that talked about the company that I used to work for, Pistol Pete's Pizza. It was a chain based in Phoenix, Arizona and had around 35 units at it's apex! I had joined the company in June, 1984, starting out as an assistant manager. Less than a year later, I am the G.M. at the unit I am working at. I was the G.M. for almost 3 years, until I was promoted to Quality Assurance as a Field Services Representative, in the Operations Department. My former boss at McDonald's, who was now a co-owner, was responsible for this department. It made sure that the franchisee restaurant operators were following established policies, procedures, and guidelines. I traveled about 40 weekends a year, from Thursday thru Monday, visiting restaurants in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. I was the primary quality assurance field rep. It was my job to come into the units to inspect them and to assist the owner/operators in whatever way that I could! The chain was sold to a competitor, Peter Piper Pizza, on August 7, 1995. That was the best job I ever had. I miss that company!!

I contacted the son of the founder of Pistol Pete's, who posted on this thread, and told him to say hi to his mom and dad. I know his sister, who posted on this thread, also! His dad was a manager for a couple McDonald franchisees (they later became his partners at Pistol Pete's) when he first hired me to work for him! That was the beginning of a 20 year relationship. Fun times, oh what fun times!!

I would like to hear from anyone that was associated with Pistol Pete's Pizza so that we can talk about the good old days!! I read the posts and I know that I know some of you, especially those in Albuquerque! I would visit that city at least once every 6 weeks, or so! I have included a photo of me from early 1994, so that it can jog your memory! Thank you for the chance to post some relevant stuff to the thread!

Sorry Ken, You don't look familiar. I worked at the Juan Tabo Store from 88-90.

I worked in the Richardson TX store from 1986 until it closed. I loved this job!Anyone else wonder how we made $ 3.35 an hour and managed to have more money left at the end of the month than we do now?

dalesmark, my older brother worked there about the same time. We lived in the neighborhood behind and would ride our bikes over there. My fried ryan and I would get free tokens and hang out up there all the time while he was working. When he quit he left me his stash of tokens and tickets. I had free games to play for life and enough tickets to buy whatever I wanted. Fun times! And spectacularly adequate pizza to boot!

I am back after almost two years. I still think about the 11 years that I worked for Pistol Pete's Pizza! It was the best job I ever had! I worked with a great corporate staff and the people in the restaurants that made everything work so well! I never had the opportunity to thank Bruce, Steve, and Bill for the wonderful opportunity that they gave me. I only wish that they had allowed the employees to buy the chain! I would love to start a Pistol Pete's Pizza if I could raise the money!!

Logged

Ken Turner

"Success is the sum of all efforts repeated day in and day out."~~ Robert Collier

Hello, fellow admirers of the "Pistol Pete's Pizza" franchise. My name is Frank Farina. I'm a Physician, living in Las Vegas for the past 25 years. My family and I have fond memories of the "Pistol Pete's Pizza" Restaurants that operated here during the mid '80s to 1995. We have searched high and low for any information as to how they made that signature Pizza Pie. I miss the food, arcade games, and family attractions from that time period.What a pleasant surprise to find a forum topic, with input from Mr. Levine's Children, as well as Mr. Turner above.I have collected a variety of Commercials that aired in the Las Vegas Market from the late '80s thru the early to mid '90s.You can view them at my "YouTube" Channel My Channel: GrowinupinSinCity81

Enjoy, and I hope to learn more about that wonderful franchise, including: Just who was the large gentleman with the Cowboy Hat, who would appear in their commercials. Always a mystery to me.Thanks all

That place looks fun for the kids. We have a place similar to that, it's Tulsa's Incredible Pizza. It has an indoor go kart track, and even bowling.I like the McDonalds pizza commercial, did not know they tried that at one time. Wonder if it was any good? Here is the link to it

Oh my goodness- this forum is a "blast from the past!" I lived in Albuquerque for over 12 years, and my dad was a franchise owner of 2 Pistol Pete's Pizza locations there. By the time I was 12 years old I would have to say that I was a "pizza pro." I recognize Ken's picture- what a trip! My father owned the stores at Central and Coors, and Louisiana and Central-